Michelle Troconis Had Expired Passport, Contact With Fotis: State

STAMFORD, CT — Despite being instructed months ago to relinquish all passports following her first arrest, Michelle Troconis has been holding onto an expired Venezuelan passport for several months, Chief State's Attorney Richard Colangelo said in court Friday.

Troconis and her new attorney, Jon Schoenhorn, appeared before Judge Gary White in Stamford Superior Court on Friday to argue for a modification to the terms of her release. She is free on bond after having been arrested three times in connection with the murder of Jennifer Farber Dulos.

The most recent arrest last month was on a charge of conspiracy to commit murder. Schoenhorn entered a plea of not guilty to the charge on Friday.

Colangelo said that Troconis had turned over her United States passport, but had not disclosed the existence of the Venezuelan one.

Additionally, he said that he was trying to track down confirmation that Troconis had been in contact with former co-defendant and boyfriend, the late Fotis Dulos, through an unnamed third-party at some point last year.

She and Fotis Dulos were prohibited by the court from contacting one another; Dulos died after a suicide attempt last week.

Schoenhorn denied the allegation about contact with Dulos. "We know nothing about any third-party contact."

White ordered Troconis to turn over the expired passport as soon as possible.

Schoenhorn, who recently replaced Westport attorney Andrew Bowman as Troconis' lawyer, argued to have Troconis' GPS monitor removed from her ankle, because it was causing bruising, and also to sought to have her house arrest status lifted. Additionally, he asked that she no longer have to submit to drug testing.

"There is zero evidence that she has a substance abuse problem," he said.

White agreed that she should not have to submit to drug testing, and said that she could work with the probation department to make the GPS monitor more comfortable.

As for lifting the house arrest, White balked at that, even though Schoenhorn tried to explain that she is a fabric swatch representative and needs to be able to visit clients to show swatches and measure furniture and rooms.

White said she is to remain under house arrest, but can go shopping, to work, her lawyer's office, medical appointments and religious services with approval by the probation department.

"But no side trips," he said.

Another new development from Friday's hearing was that for the first time, Troconis used a Spanish-language interpreter throughout the proceedings, because as Schoenhorn said, "English is not her first language."

The move appeared to be a surprise to Colangelo and White, and could potentially have ramifications in future hearings or a trial, if Schoenhorn were to argue about a language barrier.

"As I have said before, Michelle is innocent of these charges, and we will fight them," Schoenhorn said outside of court.

He declined to comment when asked for his client's thoughts on Fotis Dulos' death.